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Survival On The Fringe
Introduction Dark clouds rolled over the barren landscape, lightning flashing within them but no chance of rain falling. Carter and Favon peaked over the ridge, sand and tiny shards of glass beating against their skin as the wind blew. Carter looked through his binoculars from the ridge and into the valley below, spotting a Grave Tower surrounded by and Inhibitors. Favon unholstered the from the magnetic plate on his back and aimed it into the valley. As Carter looked through his binoculars, he took out his hand radio. Carter: "Kilo 2-5, this is 2 Charlie. We have eyes on hostile emplacement. Be advised: danger close, over." Kilo 2-5: "Copy, 2 Charlie. Transmit coordinates when ready." Carter glanced over at Favon with his sniper rifle still aimed down into the valley. Favon pulled a lever on the side of his Incisor and a red laser beamed from the rifle's nose and onto the side of the Grave Tower. After a few seconds, Carter lifted his radio back up to his lips. Carter: "Transmitting coordinates now Kilo 2-5, over." Kilo 2-5: "Copy, 2 Charlie. Coordinates received; firing on target." Carter and Favon backed away from the ledge as the radio went silent. Carter kept slightly up on the ridge to get a good view of what was to come. After a few moments of nothing but the sound of wind and faint thunder claps echoing, a loud screaming noise faded in from the distance. Carter's full attention was on the Grave Tower below. Husks lurked around the tower as if not hearing the sound but the Inhibitors quickly began to panic. Before they could even attempt to get away, a missile sliced through the clouds and like a meteor, slammed into the tower with tremendous force. A dome of fire and smoke completely blanketed the area and a thunderous noise boomed in the ears of Charlie's members. The force from the explosion was enough to lift Carter in the air aswell as toss a wave of dust into the air and cause rocks from the ledge's face to crumble and fall off. Carter held his ears and backed away from the crumbling ledge. As he stood up and turned, he saw Favon staring at him with a smurk on his face. The two of them made their way back down the slope of the ledge where they came from, walking toward their . Carter: "What the hell are you smiling at?" Favon: "The guy who nearly went deaf because he wanted to see an explosion." Carter: "Those things are so cool, though!" Favon: "I'm not sure I'll ever understand why humans do the things they do." The two of them finally got down the slope to the Mako. Eros sat on a stone next to the Mako cradling his in his arms. He turned to Carter and Favon as the two of them came toward the Mako, Favon laughing at Carter and Carter digging in his own ear with his pinky finger. Eros: "So, I guess from the sound of things that the smoke rising over the ridge, we're all done here." Favon: "Yes, It's time to get back to Kilo. Eros: "Finally. Hey, what's wrong with Carter?" Favon: "You know how he gets around explosions." Carter: "Why am I the only one who thinks missile strike are awesome?! Eros, you don't like those things?!" Eros: "Eh, they're alright. Quick way to get the job done, anyway." Favon: "Now that I think about it, you never seem to excited about strike ops." Eros: "You've seen one big explosion, you've seen 'em all. Atleast that's how drell see it." The three of them loaded themselves into the Mako and sped off toward the mountain range a few dozen miles away. They were originally just civilians on Cleopatra but after the -led invasion on the colony, they had no choice but to step up. They were now soldiers, trained and led by the last handful of on the planet. They, along with atleast a dozen other aliens, were the first non-humans to be enlisted by Alliance personnel as emergency forces. Since the fall of Cleopatra to the Reapers, only a few dozen hold-outs of resistance remained, the Kilo-Delta stronghold being one of them. The makeshift base, located within the remnants of an abandoned refinery, was under the command of Major Carl Barrett -- a highly-skilled soldier and one of the last commanders of the 201st Frontier Division left on the planet. With the colony destroyed and most of it's inhabitants dead, the last pockets of resistance would attempt to fight the occupying hostiles. Chapter I The Mako's wheels kicked up dust and pebbles as it rolled over a faint trail of dirt and burnt grass, pushing toward a fortress in the mountains. It was a large structure, a crumbling refinery facility surrounded by a large metal wall and guard towers, each with heavy machinegun turrets. Around the facility were several tents and makeshift buildings housing civilians and military personnel alike. This was Site Kilo-Delta, one of the last Alliance strongholds left on Cleopatra. After parking the Mako in a lot filled with other combat-ready vehicles, the members of 2 Charlie made their way into the large stronghold. They had to push their way through crowds of marines and refugees to get to the fort's Command Center where their commanding officer -- Carl Barrett -- was located. Carl Barrett was one of the final remaining military commanders left on Cleopatra as most of them were either killed in combat or hunted down by Inhibitor and Heretic kill teams. 2 Charlie was finally able to make it to the Command Center to meet with Barrett.